Why we lie to ourselves, every day

Human action requires motivation, but what exactly are those motivations? Donating money to a charity might be motivated by altruism, and yet, only 1% of donations are anonymous. Donors don't just want to be altruistic, they also want credit for that altruism plus badges to signal to others about their altruistic ways.
Worse, we aren't even aware of our true motivations - in fact, we often strategically deceive ourselves to make our behavior appear more pure than it really is. It's a pattern that manifests itself across all kinds of arenas, including consumption, politics, education...Read more ...